Universal joint.



' J. F. WILKINSON.

UNIVERSAL JOINT.

APPLICATION PILED FEB. 2, 1911.

1,071,377, I Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

I M I Ijfi K.7. 12 i V'UN'ITED STATES JOHN F. 'WILKINSDH, F GLOUCESTER, WSAGHU$ETT$ newsman .romr.

Application filed-February a, 19-11. -8er'ial5'o.-606,204. 7

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pat nt qh 2e, 191s.

To all whom it may coneem Be it known that I, JOHN F. WILKINSON,

. of Gloucester, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Universal Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machine elements of the kind known as universal joints, the purpose of which is to transmit rotary movement 'from one shaft to another when. the shafts are inclined to one another, as

well as when they are in alinpment.

The object of the present invention is to provide a joint capable of transmitting such motion not only when the shafts are at an angle, but also when their axes, if pro-- longed, will not intersect and whenthe center of the couplin member is not in the intersection of the s aft axes. In other words my object is to enable motion to be transmitted without binding and with perfect freedom by the joint in case one shaft as a whole should be at one side of its properposition, and also in case the shafts should be displaced endwise from their proper positions.

The second object is to make a joint of such construction that relative endwise movement of the shafts toward or from one another" may be permitted within limits,

without causing excessive friction on the parts of the joints or otherwise causing difficulty.

Other objects of a minor nature are accoinplished by my invention, but these ob- .jects will appear fully in the detailed de- Fig. 5' is a sectional detail view showing a' bearing bushing for one of the trunnions '0 of the center block. Fig. 6 is axperspective view showing the two parts of which the center block of the joint is composed, separated. Fig. 7 is an elevation film-wing ,a modification of the invention an, ing the manner of. applying the same to other machineelements thanathafi.

illustrat-.

the seine parts in all the figures.

In universal joints as constructed prior to my invention, the center block or center fpiece'has been confined closely between-the arms of the forks which are applied to the shaft sections .or other rotating elements to be coupled by the joint. As a result. it is necessary in setting up the shafts and other parts to make sure that the axes about which they rotate are in exactly the same plane, because if'they areii differentplanes and their prolongations the arms of one or the forks will be. cccentric to the'other fork and will bearaltcrnately with more or less; severe up such a joint, it is essentialthat the cenin thepoint of intersection of th eiaxe's of the shafts or other rotating parts'fbecause if the shafts arefmoved endwise with the joint so that the center block iscarried. beyond the intersection, it will bejeccentric -to one of the shaftsand will therefore hear unevenlyupon the arms of the. forks caus- 'ing'its trunnions to bind and act against excessive friction.

In my invention '1 have devised a joint or coupling the use of which enables the shafts or other elements .to be out of line and shifted endwise until the center of'the joint is comparatively far to one side or the other of the point of intersection or"of approximate intersection, without causing the'trunnions ofthe joint to bind, and in 'fact without makin the least increased difliculty of turning. lso-by the improved joint .'I have provided latitude for a certain amountyof 'tions'or other elements andof the parts of merits, without imposing burdens upon the joint. I

tions or pieces of shaft-ing coupled; together by a universal joint. The joint consists of show g ind; it: Tasmanian. liilih ee re flis e osion l y fwhit.

. "(iii the joint which are secured to such e1e- The same reference characters indicate 0 not intersect,

v 'e e. 3 against the centr block and cause t e trun-j. nions of the center block to bind in the bear-Z, ings of the second-fork. Again in'settin'g) '75 ter of the center block shouItl- 'lie leiractIy' in different planes,and permits them' to be Y relative end'movemento'f the two shaft sec-q i, In the drawings a and?) re'preseut'h-vo sew-f forks attached'to the ends of the shaft secx 'iliQiflTGTb a solii o ce lizivzi'rdiy extending iron (w angics to each oihei', but Hm rcspc-cizs another aspect of the invcviticn is ina-dc in two parts is so shown in the drawings herein. (inc the parts has two trunnions f and g which arc con? iced rotativcly iii the c, and ihc cmer part; has similar trunnions 2i, 5, contained in thc of thc other fork The EW the center block are irecessed ccniimlly so that che -J may he mortised togethciy thus cn-- ahling the parts to he so assembied that the iZI'UIlRlOIlS ali in ihesame zone or planc and are at right angles m onc another.

The parts of the center block are shown in Fig; 5, from which it will he seen each part consists of oppoeiteiy extending trunnioiis and a conceding portion j, is rcspcctivel y flanked by jaws Be- Z and m. tween the jaws Z of the one piece is; a. recess; and between the jaws m of the other piece is a recess 32. In assembling the parts of the cciiicr block they are placed so that jaws Z of one embrace the connecting is the other while the jaws m of the secciid embrace the connecting web or j o "the first. The recesses 0 and p :icriii chziiiihcr of considerable width suiiicici i to permit an axial play of one pan. relatively '50 the otheix In 'izhc chambci" is plcccd spring g which tends is separate the aris. The-ends of this spring are retained in recesses in the webs and 2'0,

in acscmbiizig the ports of the joint the center block istumed in'siich a Way that the web j of one part. and the spring g, cm interposed between the web of 'hc other pari and the ci'o'ic-h of ihe for iiico which second pare i5 held. (hr in ci'zhcrc words wch j with ihc trmmions f, g and the arms 0 1'2 close in the space in which the web is is contained, that no amount of relative movement OfiJRE shaft away from ihc other will disconnect the parts of H18 joint, but such movement apart will i'esistcd by the EZTi'iIQ circngth of the central pact. i hen pcwcr is transmitted ffom one shaft section in the "mc jaws of one haif of ccner hiock bear on the conncc ting weh of "the othcz" half of the hioch tiansniii foca- 'iion while permitting play between the shafts.

w I i i i onc its rotation will vibrate from i 1e arm to the other of the for]: or convcrseiy the arms of the fork will alternately approach and re.- ccdc from. the middlc portion of the ccnijci' block. This will occur smoothly and without in the least increasing the frictional resistance of the joint as a wl'iolc. This is a feature of which the importance cannot be exaggerated, b muse it enables excessive care in the set, 11;; up of shafts and couplings Lo be dicpcnscd with Hitherto in setting 11; shafts of other elements to be coupled by a universal joint, it has been necessary to use the greatest care in insuring that shafts are in the same plane and that the prolongations of tlicir axcs actually intersect, and, in. the case of finely fitted mm chinery, accuracy within a very few thou-- scndths of an inch has been required. As ihe result of my invention, however, no accuracy in this regard is necessary provided only that either shaft not displaced by an excessive azciiouhi since any displacement within one sixteenth of an inch, an amount which could. hardly be cxcccdcd except purposcly, is within a safe limit.

One particular application to which this filk'li is especially adapted is in connecting he shafting and'enginc of boats where disalinemcni; of the hearings and shafting is 15o occur in consequence of the hull of the boat settling, 11 is useful also in every place where there is danger or likelihood of Emits getting out of the same plane.

As a desirable hearing for each trunnion in its corresponding fork arm I provide a bushing c in the form of a, cap having a cylindriccl wall fitting the trunnion and an end wall 9* exiending across the end of the trunnion. The bushing also has a flange r iindcrlving and bca iing againstthe inner side 0 the arm, to prevent the bushin being displaced outwardly by centrifugal orce or otherwise. The end wall of the bushing is of use to rei' lin oil, which may be supplied to thc center black in the cavity or chamber thereof between the two parts, from which chzunbci" it is fed to the bearings through longitudinal passagce s in the trunnions. The oii issuing from these passages is confined by i'hc end walls of the bushings and is caused to lubricate the bearing surfaces of the ti-minions and bushings.

Each cart oi? the center block is made in one piece ihe trunnions of such piece being inseparable and incapable of contraction. Hence in order to assemble the parts of. the joint together the forks are divided longitudinally between the arms thereof, 83011125 for thus being made in two parts, each; part of which carries one of the arms. The members of the forks have semihnb portions t a c'quippcd with flanges t and} by which they may bc clamped upon the end of the;

than shafts.

shaft with bolts and nuts. The two halves of the fork are exact counterparts of each other so that they are interchangeable and one pattern serves for all. The flanget of each is provided with a plain hole to receive the shank of the coupling bolt, and theflange t with a tapped hole to contain the threaded part of the bolt. From Fig. 2 it will be seen that the two parts of the fork are so arrangedrthat the tapped flange tcomes opposite tothe flange t in which the plain hole is formed in the other. As a the shaft or other elementto which t ey' are secured. v The modificationshown in Fig. 7 illustrates the manner in which the coupling may be used to connect other rotatin elements In this form one o the forks is constructed exactly as hereinbefore described and mounted upon a shaft sect-ion a, while the parts of the other fork e are pro.- vided with flanges e capable of attachment to the side of a rotating disk u.

Conveniently the hub portions of the forks are made non-circular in outlinefand the ends of the shaft sections on which they are applied are similarly formed, but this is not of the essence of the'invention and any construction or attaching. means whereby the forks may be kept from relative rotation upon the shaft sections may be employed From the foregoing it will be seen that my improved universal -'oint permits either shaft to be displaced bo ily in any direction transverse to its-axis, permits both shafts to be moved simultaneously along their axes, and permits the shafts to be moved relatively toward and from one another, without causing the center block to bind in the forks, and without increasing in the least degree the frictional resistance of the joint to turning.

I claim,- v 1. In a universal joint the combination of a pair of. forks divided longitudinally into two parts, each part having an arm and bethe arms of each pair are opposite to each other, and intermediate those of the other ing assembled upon shaft sections so that air .a center iece consistin of two arts each part having diametricall -opposite trunnions contained in the arms 0 one fork a connecting web and jaws at'the ends of said web and at the-bases of thetrunnions the jaws of one piece embracing the web 0 e y the two pairs of trunthe other wher nions are held at right angles to each other and relative movement of the parts of the center block is permitted, while rotary movement is transmitted from one part to the other through the jaws and a spring interposed between the we s of the two parts tending to l Qushthem apart and permitting them to drawn together in consequence of relative endwise movement of the shaft sections.

2. In a universal joint the combination of a pair of forks divlded longitudinally into two parts, each part having 'an arm and being assembled upon shaft sections so that the arms of-eachpair are opposite to each other, and intermediate those of the other pair, a center piece consisting oftwo parts,

each part having diametrically opposite trunnions contained in the arms of one fork a connecting web and jaws at the ends of said web and at the bases of. the trunnions the jaws of one piece embracing the web 0 the other where y the two pairs of trunnions are held at right angles to each other and relative 'movement of the parts. of the center block is permitted, while rotary movement is transmitted-from one part to theother through the jaws.

Intestimony whereof I have aflixed' my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F..WILKINSON. 

